What is on this site...

On this site you will find a few published (but little
known) works that that haven’t seen the light of day
in formal print. These may or may not have been updated, so
please just take them ‘as is’.

You will also find some articles or books that have been
started but remain incomplete; again, to be taken ‘as
is’. There is also some information about various
books of mine, plus additions and corrections.

Please regard all this very much as ‘Work in
Progress’; it is all liable to frequent adjustment
and updating.

You are welcome to view the documents and provided you
acknowledge the source you may use the information in
accordance with normal copyright conditions. The documents
themselves may not be printed or downloaded.

What’s new?

I have added some blocks below to advise of specific
updates I make. There will usually be the last five on
display. I hope this is helpful. I have now added another
block (in blue) indicating what is new on my blog.

Webitems

Updated 20 NovemberFurther additions to Set 3 of my Parish Boundary
Markers register, probably beginning to conclude the
additions for this year as light fades and weather becomes
less amenable for tramping the streets and taking photos.
Winter will be spent researching what I have found and
preparing for next year. Inner London pretty complete, so
thoughts turning to how to tackle outer London, though
several additions have made to emerging outer London area around
Finchley (separate part of register which can be found
Here)

Updated 6 NovemberWebsite article on British Driving Licences rewritten
and posted. You can see it
HERE.

Updated 12 OctoberAddition of last of several updates to Parish Boundary register, with new
Parish and Borough Lists including all 800 or so boundary
marks identified

Updated 25 AugustFurther updates to Parish Boundary Markers, and
after further research a small number have been removed from
the inventory and relocated with 'Other Markers'. A few
other minor errors identified and corrected.

Blogitems

Mike Horne's Blog Updated 11 FebruaryI have been following the proposals for unstaffed
automatic trains and have added a new blog item reflecting
the latest plan. In addition I draw attention to the way the
DLR operates, where the roving staff arrangement (suggested
by some as the way to operate the Underground) is found not
to apply in rush hours as the crowds make such operation
impossible (and the Underground would be far more
challenging). I suspect those pushing for such operation are
not frequent public transport users or they wouldn't make
such far-fetched suggestions.

Mike Horne's Blog Updated 3 FebruaryAnother book review - this time a handy work devoted
to the destruction of the British Transport Hotels chain,
once owned by British Rail. With it, went a rather fine wine
club. The book is, I am afraid, another depressing example
of the dead hand of government, once more seizing a poor
outcome from internal proposals to make a far more
profitable sale as a going entity. The book was written by
the man who ran the hotels at the time and provides a useful
insight into how manipulative government officials were in
the way our railways were run (but all was done at a
sufficient distance to be able to say 'this was a British
Rail decision...'.

Mike Horne's Blog Updated 29 JanuaryA visit to Walthamstow made me wonder what is going on
there, for traffic levels have shot up. No matter, train
service improvements have been made, and further
improvements are due which will see most, and perhaps all,
trains serving Walthamstow, with no more peak Seven Sisters
reversers. The blog also considers the proposals to
intoroduce a 36 tph service on the Victoria Line and whay I
am just a little dubious that this is possible at the
Walthamstow end.

Mike Horne's Blog Updated 18 January
Tottenham Court Road station has been looking increasingly
disreputable, as intended mid-1990s reconstruction slipped
because of Crossrail uncertainty. It now has a brand new
entrance and ticket hall (opened on 12th January) and work
on the rest of the station is at last in hand. I thought it
time to put something down about its history and
development.

What’s the photo?

It is the roof of the new part of King’s Cross
station. I quite like it. Let’s face it, it has to be
better than the squalid 1970’s concourse area...

Related resources?

There is the inevitable blog, which I try and keep
topical but it get refreshed in fits and starts. It may be
found here.
Mike Horne Blog; this will open a new
web page, or at least a new tab. Items currently topical,
as well as the archive, are listed on my 'other
stuff' pages. I can also be found at @machorne.

Many files are in pdf format...

So you will need a pdf reader. If you do not have a pdf
reader on your computer, you will need Acrobat (or another
PDF) Reader in order to view them. You can download a free
reader from Adobe. When reading the files use Page Up and
Page Down for navigation.

I am aware that some Firefox users may have a problem
with accurately resolving images in pdf files owing to a bug
with Firefox's dedicated pdf viewer. It is to be hoped this
will be fixed shortly. Firefox can be configured to open
pdfs using Adobe reader if the bug becomes intolerable, but
it isn't something that relates particularly to pdfs from
this site.

Contact the Author

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observations about its contents, or can help with any
information, then the author will be delighted to hear from
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client.

Why Metadyne?

The metadyne is an intriguing type of electrical
machine, akin to a rotating amplifier, and is particularly
suited to heavy duty operation where constant voltage input
needs to be converted into a constant current (but
adjustable) output. The contrived name comes from the greek
'dynamis', meaning power. The machine had was found
to be useful for certain types of drive mechanism,
including gun turrets and cranes, and to a lesser extent,
traction; under this name it was developed in the 1930s and
40s by Metropolitan Vickers and was a development of the
earlier Amplidyne machine developed in America.

Whilst there are all kinds of stories I could offer you
as to why it is relevant to this site, actually I was after
a fairly ambiguous name and just liked it!